What is your understanding of the word PEACE. It is obvious that your definition of peace will no doubt differ from someone else, because of our varied perspective about life.
This is my definition. Peace is not the absence of quarrels; peace is not the absence of shouting, killings or trouble. It is the tranquility of the man’s soul. When you have peace in the inside, having peace in the outside will not be a problem. Therefore if we are seeking to have peace it must begin from the inside and we must crave for it.
For example, if everywhere is quiet and you are so ruffled in the inside, then it will be very difficult for you to manage peace. In the scripture, Jesus said if you go into a house, you should say peace be unto this house. You must understand that Jesus is taking it for granted that as a child of God, you have peace within you because no man can give what they do not have.
However, if there are people who do not believe in the peaceful co-existence with others and they believe in violent means to agitate for what they believe in, then the government should be on alert to know that these set of people can be categorized as trouble makers who should be dealt with decisively.
But on the other hand, if those threatening the peaceful existence of the nation are treated as special citizens with immunity, then peace will no doubt continue to elude such a nation. We know that in some other religions, they try to say peace be with you, but it is never there because they do not have it.
My fellow Nigerians, peace is only possible by the presence of God Almighty. If you believe in the creator of all flesh, the Alpha and Omega, you will not engage yourself in acts that will not promote peace.
In our nation today, one vital ingredient that we are lacking gradually is peace and we all know that without peace there can not be progress. The governments at the federal, state and local level are striving to make life meaningful with the execution of projects, and provision of services for the people. But unfortunately and sadly without peace, it is like a wasted effort.
Our lord Jesus Christ is the prince of peace. The word prince is like a generator, some one who generates peace, someone who originates peace. That is why he is called the prince of peace.
In Hebrew 12:14, the Bible clearly states that, “Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. It says we should follow peace, it is very important, that we pursue it, we should seek it, we should chase it, go after it. Any one involve in the wanton killing of innocent people including children, surely cannot be said to be doing good.
In Psalm 34:14, it says, depart from evil, do good and seek peace and pursue it. What does it mean to seek peace? One of the criteria that show that you are a child of God is not the size of your Bible or Qu’ran, not your frequency in the house of worship.
Yes, It is good to frequent the house of worship but one of the things that qualify you as a child of God is the kind of peace that exudes in you, through you and by you. Your presence should bring peace to a place and not sorrow.
But if the otherwise is the case, then there is a problem. There are people who enjoy making people quarrel with each other, fight each other, use people’s head to hit each other and are happy when others are sad and mourning.
Such people can not be counted as children of God. A child of God sues for peace. In Matthew 5: 9 it says,” Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God. How can you be called a child of God or children of God when you cause mayhem, kill innocent people and cause sorrow, tears and blood?
It is time we change our ways irrespective of our religion because the unprovoked senseless killings going on in parts of the country today must stop if peace must reign in the country.
As a nation, the government must be the initiator of peace and therefore carry all stakeholders along. No right thinking person will mistake this option as a mark of weakness.
We should bear in mind that the breakdown of law and order with the violent attacks on innocent citizens in the Northern part of the country is threatening the co-existence of the the Muslims and Christians in the entity called Nigeria.
We must not allow the situation to continue to degenerate because other nations that are jealous of Nigeria’s greatness may act as catalyst for the breakdown of peace.
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Eubaldus Enahoro is Deputy Editor with the Nigerian Observer
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